The Line Tender

Sookie and Lester come to Lucy’s house the next day to invite her to lunch. Lucy has started losing weight because she has trouble swallowing her food. She agrees to go out to lunch, and when she tells Lester and Sookie why she hasn’t been eating, Lester apologizes for taking her and Fred to the quarry that night. While at lunch, Lucy learns that there was another shark attack in the bay. Before going home, Lucy stops at the bookstore, where the bookstore owner gives her a book on great white sharks, pretending that Fred had ordered it before he died.

Lucy sees Fiona outside the bookstore, so she goes with her down the street to Mrs. Wong’s Chinese import shop. Fiona is buying a pair of Chinese Mary Jane slippers; Lucy’s mother used to buy her similar shoes. Lucy and Fiona go get ice cream together, and Fiona suggests that Lucy talk to the school counselor, Mr. Scanlon, about Fred and her mother. Fiona asks Lucy about the mermaid pendant she is wearing, and Lucy tells her she found it in Fred’s backpack. Fiona wonders if Fred planned to give it to Lucy as a present.